I have seen women that could probably smoke most guys. Take it on a case by case basis. Women generally are the weaker sex that is why they get the lower standards.

The ironic thing about your proposition as it relates to point #2, is that most women that do Law Enforcement that I have met are FAR superior runners than me.

They have less body fat, and also weigh less, which means less stress on the joints. (and body in general)

Case in point, I recently met a very sweet woman at my gun range who is an IRS agent. She told me that she was a marathon runner and based on her physique I believe it 100%.

If I had my way, the running requirements for the sexes would be opposite.

As for the weightlifting thing, lets get one thing straight.

Humans are humans. there is absolutely no evidence (note: I have never seen any) which would suggest that women are unable to reach a *standard level* of muscular fitness.

The bottom line on that, however, is that men are expected to be able to lift more.

Again, check the perspective. See how I say that "Men are expected to lift more" and NOT "Women can lift less weight"

The point? Here it is: I've been exercising, grunting, lifting, and doing activities which require strength for many years. Hell, its practically just a recreational thing for me. I don't even really think about it.

However, contrast this to the life of the Status Quo American Woman: How often are they doing strength training?

I do not mean how often are they using weights for various activities, such as running, I mean lifting to get big and directly increase the quantity of weight they can lift with a specific muscle or muscle group. I am also not talking about high-rep / low-weight exercises. I'm specifically talking about, for example: Curling 40 pounds / 7 reps / 3 sets

(For non-weight-lifters: The difference between lifting for 'muscular endurance' and outright 'strength building' is based on how many repetitions you can do of the lift. If you are lifting a weight which you can only lift 8 times or less per set, assuming you do 3 or less sets, that would generally be considered a "strength building exercise". An endurance exercise might be something like "lift X weight 25 times per set, do 3 sets"

The bottom line is, if you look at our society, it is unfair to women to expect them to have the same muscular fitness as men, on average. Additionally, many (ignorant) men would label a muscular woman as "butch" and generally disrespect their dedication to physical fitness or strength.

Certain women, obviously, who train and focus, will be stronger than most men.

Forgive the rant, but your post struck me as rather ignorant. Hence, I set this **** straight.

I agree with a lot of what you say, Timothy. OK, a woman's body is not built like a man's. We don't have the heavy bones men do. Our muscles behave differently than men's do because of the hormones men have that we don't, among other things. In addition, most women don't want to look like the governor of California! True that! And why not, you may ask? How many men want to go to bed with the governor of California?

I don't believe there should be two standards. If women want to do the job alongside men they should qualify the same. If a male police officer were going into a situation which required a great amount of strength, wouldn't it be safer to have another male at his side? A male who--hopefully--has equal strength, rather than a woman whose strength is somewhat less?

But I don't believe that women are inferior to men, just that we excell in other areas. I don't think there's one bit of difference between women and men on the gun range, for instance.

I agree with SaraJ. And that comes from having twenty years of experience and being a firearms instructor.